1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic stamping method and apparatus and, more particularly, to an automatic stamping method and apparatus which can stamp a postmark or receipt mark on various paper sheets such as postal matters, bills, courier or parcel invoices, etc. in a press manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a stamp is affixed to an envelope of a letter as a general postal matter to verify payment, and when the letter is deposited in a post office, a postmark is stamped on the corresponding letter to verify the payment and prevent reuse of the stamp.
Moreover, when a person receiving a bill visits an agency and pays the bill, a recipient of the agency stamps a receipt mark by hand with a stamping tool using ink or by putting a plurality of bills into an automated apparatus one by one.
As such, the stamping process using ink has many advantages and thus is widely used in many fields. However, the ink used in the automated apparatus equipped with an electronic device is expensive, and the cost of purchasing the ink is rapidly increased according to an increase in processing volume. Moreover, the post mark or receipt mark stamped on the letter or bill smears with water and thus cannot be identified.
Therefore, there are many prior arts related to an apparatus for stamping a postmark or receipt mark on paper sheets such as postal matters in a press manner.
For example, Korean Patent No. 0528111 discloses a paper sheet stamping apparatus, which stamps a postmark on a postal matter conveyed by a conveyor belt and passing through a press roller, and Korean Patent No. 0541493 discloses a paper-like material conveying apparatus, a paper-like material conveying direction switching apparatus, and a paper-like material stamping apparatus, which can facilitate the transfer of a paper-like material by applying electrical deformation properties to a roller used in the stamping apparatus.
However, despite the above-described prior arts, it is impossible to record information other than the simple pattern on the paper-like material due to the nature of the rotating roller. That is, a concave-convex portion formed on the press roller cannot be changed in real time, and thus it is only possible to stamp a pattern that gives a simple verification on the paper-like material.